Future Today #081 - Web3. Metaverse. Creative AI. Gen Z. Transhumanism

Welcome to Future Today!?A newsletter for those curious about social innovation, disruptive technologies and futures studies. In it I share weekly articles, reports and interesting links, and recommendations of books, movies, series, events and courses.

?? Do you know that I have published a book? In?“Upgrade: desarrolla tu perfil a prueba de futuro”?(only in spanish for now), together with?Mónica Quintana, we talk about the skills that any professional should develop thinking about the future. You can buy it in any online or physical bookstore or?on the publisher's website.

?? What are the alternatives to the use of assumptions in foresight? By assessing the opportunities and risks that emanate from the scenarios developed, we carefully examine the potential consequences of the various alternative futures. This allows us to build resilience and the ability to withstand even the most severe impacts and outcomes. It is a pleasure to give the pen to Roger Spitz , author among others of "The Definitive Guide to Thriving on Disruption".

?? Web3, the Metaverse, and the Lack of Useful Innovation. So far, the year 2022 has certainly looked like a deflating technology bubble. After a decade of rising market caps, stocks for formerly hot “tech” companies fell far below their recent highs. By September 2022, exercise equipment maker Peloton was down 90 percent from a year before; ridesharing company Lyft had fallen 70 percent; videoconferencing firm Zoom, 70 percent; electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian, 60 percent; Meta (or Facebook), 60 percent; Netflix, 60 percent; the gory list goes on.

??? MoMA’s newest artist is an AI trained on 180,000 works, from Warhol to Pac-Man. As a painter would use pigment, Refik Anadol uses data to create his art. After looking at his body of work—which has pioneered the use of artificial intelligence for years—you might also say that neural networks are his brushes. His latest exhibit at MoMA, Unsupervised, is the pinnacle of this philosophy and then more.?

?? The scary truth about AI copyright is nobody knows what will happen next. Generative AI has had a very good year. Corporations like Microsoft, Adobe, and GitHub are integrating the tech into their products; startups are raising hundreds of millions to compete with them; and the software even has cultural clout, with text-to-image AI models spawning countless memes. But listen in on any industry discussion about generative AI, and you’ll hear, in the background, a question whispered by advocates and critics alike in increasingly concerned tones: is any of this actually legal?

?? A Playbook for Unlocking Opportunity in the Decentralised Economy. Web3.0 and Metaverse aim at the creation of a transactional universe, governed by the principles of self-sovereignty, interoperability, standardised equitable frameworks, security, privacy, speed of operation, enhanced experience and the unlocking of opportunity. As the enablers of transaction and security, the rapid evolution of consequent financial technologies will form the central nervous system of this evolving domain. In this playbook, we seek to uncover impact, opportunity and the burning questions consequent to this intrinsic relationship.

Recommended book:?Loonshots (2019) - Safi Bahcall // Recommended film: Interstellar (2014) - Christopher Nolan???

?? Globalisation and the Transhumanist Identities. Globalisation has introduced a variety of changes to the different aspects of human life such as an individual’s identity. These changes can be embodied in the variables one depends on to define the self or the group to which they belong. While it is believed that an advanced stage of increased globality has made people more similar, it is also a common argument that globalisation has significantly foregrounded differences to render us more distinct and unique in contrast to others.

?? Gen Z's not lazy — they're just refusing to put up with the toxic work culture that boomers created. The internet is littered with articles fussing over Gen Z's alleged distaste for workplace "norms," but young workers are not lazy, entitled, or keen on slacking off — they're simply choosing to reject some of the practices that previous generations were forced to accept. Surveys have found that Gen Zers are less likely than their elders to go along with long hours, overbearing bosses, or a lack of boundaries between the personal and the professional.

?? Destinations of the future. The retail industry faces major challenges and opportunities, and businesses must adapt their mindsets, examine the way they understand the world, and work collaboratively to disassemble and rebuild an entirely new model for retail. In September 2022, future thinkers from all across Selfridges Group came together, along with experts and thought leaders in a broad range of disciplines, to reimagine the department store of the future.?

?? Meet Midnight, the eVTOL air taxi that Archer will take to production. Archer is targeting FAA certification by the end of 2024, and its first air taxi flights in 2025. With its Maker prototype logging successful test flights, the company has now unveiled Midnight, the four-passenger aircraft it'll push toward production. t's a sleek and curious-looking beast, sporting the same propulsion layout as the Maker. That's 12 rotors, mounted on propulsion pods distributed along its wide wings.

?? 3000-year-old solutions to modern problems - Lyla June. In this profoundly hopeful talk, Diné musician, scholar, and cultural historian Lyla June outlines a series of timeless human success stories focusing on Native American food and land management techniques and strategies.?Lyla June is an Indigenous musician, scholar and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstahese (Cheyenne) and European lineages.?

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???Read the newsletter in Spanish